A Tiny Chinese Pair

When we adopted Poppy in September, we weren’t sure how Dolly would react. There had been much talk in our home of “her baby.” But, Dolly had NO clue that “her baby” weighed just shy of two pounds as much as she did, and was a WILD WOMAN. Poppy took our home by storm. She was into everything, curious the way an almost two-year-old should be. And, Poppy reveled in having a mom and dad to love on her full-time.

Dolly never said boo. Even when Poppy was so rough with her, we could hear her trying to climb onto Dolly, or pull her hair, we would hear Dolly’s sweet reply of “No, Poppy! Don’t pull my hair! No, Poppy! I’m trying to tell you nicely because you’re just a…OW! THAT HURTS!!!” She never hit her, got really angry with her, and she has never once resented her.

Because of Dolly’s unwavering patience, they bonded nearly instantly. And, for the most part, Poppy now lets Dolly lead. Yeah, Poppy still marches to the beat of her own drum, but when Dolly says “Hey, Poppy! Let’s play babies!” They play babies. Maybe Poppy beats her plastic babies head into the ground. But, they play babies. And, Dolly never cares that Poppy isn’t playing “right”, she just enjoys having her near.

When Poppy had to have her eye removed, it was Dolly who comforted her the best.

As we led up to this surgery, I prepared Dolly a lot. I am sad to admit, I failed Poppy. There is really no way to prepare a two-year-old for this. She wouldn’t get it. But, I didn’t even try. I’m so sorry, Poppy. I thought she would just be her happy little self with her dad, and, for the most part, she is. She misses me, but she really misses Dolly.

I keep telling Dolly, “You need to fight so hard. Your baby misses you so much.”